Not a whole lot of anything

8-31-12


It is quitting time yet?

I am incredibly sleepy. With the heat and the inability to get comfortable last night, I found myself tossing and turning much of the night. It also didn’t help that Monarch seems to think he is allowed one third of the bed.

Recently the boys discovered that one of Bobby’s classmates lives across the way from us. So he and Dax have been playing with her and her brother. They have lived there for some time, but I think this is the first time she has been in the same class as Bobby. They seem like good kids, and I like that they are playing so well together. Bobby did tell us that their parents don’t like us. I am shockingly amused at this. I really don’t care. The only reason given to Bobby was that their dad didn’t like us teasing the crows. I of course know that he didn’t have the whole story and that he doesn’t understand that we were in fact trying to help a baby crow out. I also don’t care as long as they are nice to my kids. My boys are good kids and as long as there is no issue with them, I will not have issue.

It was nice that they were across playing, since it meant Ken and I could play in the backyard. We went in the pool. Hee!

The kids don’t have school today so they are going with Ken to his home school class. I think Ken is also bringing them to me right before I am done for the day. We have a Target outing in our future before we go visit with my folks. Ken is helping Aaron with a gaming tournament this afternoon.

I also am hoping to finally get Dax a birthday present today. I had to wait till I got paid. I will let him pick something out at Target.

I need a new strategy on homework. I think I will go with timed rewards. This will hopefully encourage them to settle in and work, plus it is positive reinforcement as opposed to negative. I know it is a lot of work and that it is only getting worse each year, so hopefully if I can get them moving we can get good work habits.

Ken may have been able to secure two computers which also means we can set up computers for each of the boys. I want to be able to have them do everything from educational games to playing some of the fun stuff online to even maybe typing out letters to people. They are really good on their iPods, and curious about our computers enough (along with having used them at school) that I think we are doing them a great injustice by not having them on a machine sooner. It may also be a good incentive towards the homework.

June 11

8-30-12

Not trying to be political or anything, but shouldn’t the Republican convention postpone their little love fest and maybe send everyone to New Orleans to help out? And if the Democrats were smart, they would be there since everyone who is anyone in the Republican party is rockin out at their little party.

I was looking through Huffington Post and they had an article on memorable photos from the Vietnam War. The first image was this:

I had seen it a million times before, always impressed with his self-sacrifice in the name of protest. I had not ever seen the date before. June 11 1963. 12 years before I would be born on that same date in the month of June. I am certainly not suggesting that I am somehow reincarnated or anything hokey like that. It just struck me as one of those wow moments in which this was way more important than any birthday I will ever have.

Apparently George Wallace was also an uber asshole on that day in 1963.

I personally like to look at a better thing that happened that day.

My ride to the dentist was fucking awesome. I had originally clocked it out at 12 miles. Ken pointed out it was actually closer to 16. I. Kick. Ass. It wasn’t easy, as there were actually quite a bit of hilly madness closer to the final destination, along with the blazing sun and some tough wind to content with, but I made it, both ways, without incident or injury.

I spent the rest of the day at home and watched several Mad Men episodes. I figured I earned a little down time before I had to pick up the boys. Sadly, I did find myself get quite worked up. My beloved Mad Men had a guest star in the form of this small little shit head I went to school with. In all fairness, I hardly remember him from Costa, but I do remember when he worked at Blockbuster, and I remember Jenni having to hold me back from beating the fuck out of him. Danny Strong, an arrogant fucktard was being disrespectful an rude to an overly angsty and equally arrogant manager at the BBV. Oh, that manager would be me. He was sitting on the counter, a huge no no there, and I asked him to get down. Instead, he was a jerk and essentially telling me to fuck off. I was livid. He had always been like that on every shift, and thankfully he didn’t work there for long. I don’t know that I have ever been so annoyed with someone’s success, especially since in all fairness, the guy may be nice and it was just one of those days that tainted my views forever. He has been on several shows, including Buffy and even my beloved HIMYM. Beyond that, he wrote the well-received and award winning Recount. It is an unnatural cartoon hate that I have for him.

Stupid IMDB also mentions that on June 11, 2003 he has a quote of “Only on Buffy can you get killed and do three more episodes.” Why couldn’t he have been quoted on that like a day later???

stupid tooth

8-29-12


Stupid tooth.

I have one of those cool metal straws at work in my water and I went to take a sip yesterday and kind of bit down to grab the straw. I heard the crunch, and felt the spec hit my tongue and I hoped I had actually broke the straw. Not so much.

My front tooth has a little split in it. Truly, you would not notice it unless you really looked, but I notice it since it is in my mouth. FUCK.

I am leaving today at 8 to go down to the dentist to see what he can do to fix it. The only positive out of this will be that I am going to ride my bike there, allowing me a nice 12 mile ride round trip.

At least the rest of my evening was good. Back to School night was nice. I really like both teachers, and from what I can tell, both teachers really like the boys. Ms. Jenkins said Bobby is delightful and seems really taken with his personality. She said that as of right now nothing stands out good or bad with him. When I did look through some of his work, I do see he needs to work on keeping up, but it sounds like many kids need to learn this part. They will be doing shit tons of writing, and I have been assured that starting next week there will be more homework. Fuck.

Mr. Williams said Dax is really good and even when he might zone out or stop paying attention for a minute, it only takes him saying his name once and he is back in. Plus, Dax seems to have been doing well in class, too. They had a coloring packet that they have to finish in order to get their science book, and Dax already has his because he already finished his coloring and it was good enough to get the book. Yay!

I did determine that I need to start having the boys write more. Both teachers said that writing will be huge, so I may need to have them do even more than what they are doing now at home. I may have them write more letters to people since it is a big part of 2nd grade starting second semester. This will give both boys a good jump start on the process. I took notes last night and I am hoping to really help the boys at home. I need to be more active with their homework.

Also, it has been determined Mr. Williams is awesome. He has a background in Special Ed along with Art and teaching. He has been at Halldale since 1982. That is pretty freaking cool. I also don’t understand how that is possible since he looks pretty young to me. Then again, I can never tell age.

Make it go quickly

8-28-12


My dreams of a bad work day may have been foreshadowing.

Ok, in reality, I had already geared myself up for hell on earth here today. My coworker tipped me off last night that an email message would irritate me to epic levels when I arrived. This only spurred me into cartoon hate and anger which was then put into wacky dreams including a new building that I got lost in while I was looking for my new desk. Ken saved me in the dream, which is pretty romantical, and it was a nice counter to my dream the night before where Chandler and Monica had called it quits.

Normally I would not be in the process of a blog, but the reports I work on are of course incorrect, making my morning a bit of a clusterfuck. I am sure I will get to them at some point.

It has been brought to my attention that the other teams in our division are practicing twice a week. Sigh. Yeah, because I needed more to do each week. Because of that, we are going to probably up our practices to being 90 minutes a week instead of only 60. I refuse to add another day to an already busy week. Besides, we can get the kids more conditioned in that extra 30 minutes. They need to run more and get into shape. It will make for a late night on Tuesdays since we will be riding our bikes to and from practice, but I think it will be worth it overall. We also are going to try to have a practice on Saturday this week.

Dax has decided he hates school. It is not surprising since let’s face it, only the lucky parents have kids who love it. Plus, Dax is my little Diva and if there is even the slightest bit of annoyance, he throws an epic sized pout. Mind you, he does really well in school, but I think until he finds his groove, he will not be happy. Bobby likes going, and it may have to do with his friends.

Please make this day go quickly.

good news

8-27-12


5.7 A1C.

Normal is 6 or less

Goal is less than 7.

Over 7 is not so good at all.

It is still in the pre-diabetes area according to some web sites, and really, since I have diabetes, this makes sense. Either way, it means I am still keeping myself in check. This is numbers after letting myself be a little less strict, too. So I am pretty pleased overall.

I went to obtain these numbers on Saturday. We rode our bikes up to the hospital and went next door to LabCorp to have my now bruised arm poked. It was a good 10 mile ride. I really dig this bike thing. It was a perfect morning for it, too. It wasn’t hot at all, and there is something to be said about crisp morning air when riding your bike. We were back near home at about 8:45, which isn’t too bad at all!

Ken had to go set up soccer fields, so I ended up doing housework. I also cleared out the area under our bedroom window outside. We are going to get some materials to build an enclosure in which the cats will have their own outdoor patio. We will put shelves in there for them to sit on, and one in which the cat pans will go on. We will put in a door to this thing, too, so we can get to said pans. This will accomplish multiple things. It will take cat pan smell to the outside, and it will allow the kitties to get some sunshine and air without the dangers of running around in the street.

Saturday afternoon, we talked about going to the dog beach. The only problem with this was that we ended up with a neighbor health scare. Anthony’s great grandma had a couple of seizures, which resulted in paramedics coming and taking her to the hospital. Ken went down and told them that if they wanted, Anthony could come down and hang with us while they went with her to the hospital. Anthony ended up hanging out with us for a couple hours while the family took care of things. I think it was a good thing for Anthony since he was apparently pretty upset about the whole thing, and a nice distraction in the form of playing with Nerf guns and Lego was just what the doctor ordered.

Sunday was another day of housework. Ken had to go to do more soccer meetings and uniform sorting. The boys just wanted to play in the playroom. Makes sense, especially since I just spent Saturday cleaning it all up and reorganizing parts of it, which made them want to dive in to the “new” toys I had discovered.

I managed to also go through some of the boys’ clothing and my own and put them into yet another donation bag. I am sure there are more clothes that need to be put in this bag, but it is tough to get rid of some of the items.

The biggest part of Sunday was spent when I decided to give every animal a flea bath. All night, I heard every animal scratching and complaining to various degrees about the flea issues. We have put down new boric acid, given the dogs Capstar and yet that horrid heat wave we had seemed to exacerbate the problem. I found the kick ass flea shampoo and noted it was ok for all variety of furry critter we have. I am always impressed when I can manage to bathe one cat, let alone 4 and 2 kittens. I didn’t even get scratched! Don’t get me wrong, they were not thrilled with this adventure, but I think it was a good thing.

One of the benefits of bathing the cats was that it helped drain One10’s jellybean. Girly has had this little knob under her skin by her shoulder blades. It has been there for years. In the past 6 months or so, we have even started keeping track of its size, noting it really has not changed at all. Although size has not changed much, the feel of it has. It used to be much harder, but over time it was almost a bit more squishy. On Saturday evening, I was scritching her when I noticed discharge. I squeezed, and this gray, pasty matter came out. We drained some of it further, and it was almost like she had just dirt in it. When I gave her a bath, most of it came out with almost no effort at all, leaving her with no jellybean. She didn’t seem too bothered by all of this, so we have been keeping the area clean and will continue to monitor.

Even though the whole thing seemed funky, what with squeezing out this gray material out of this jellybean on her, it was nothing compared to when we removed IO’s nipples. LOL!

This makes my house with 8 clean critters, 2 clean boys, a lot of laundry done, and most of the house clean. Yay! I was productive, and I am always happy about that.

Funky week ahead of me. Although tonight looks to be pretty average, tomorrow night is Back to School night. Friday is a no school day, which means I only have to fight with the boys over homework for 3 days, which is a welcome thing.

I also have my reports tomorrow, which always makes for a busy day. Sadly, it means I won’t be able to do my workout since I will be way too busy. I could probably tear myself away, so we will see. It might be a good thing.

Twilight

http://carrotsformichaelmas.com/2012/06/20/why-you-cant-read-twilight-a-letter-to-my-daughter/




Why You Can’t Read Twilight: A Letter to My Daughter

A rebuttal



Sigh.

I know your disclaimer indicates that you would never “ban” a book in your house. I do truly hope this is true for your daughter’s sake. I know households in which the kids were not allowed to read certain pieces of literature for various reasons, and it chills me to think of any other kids having to go through that. Even without the ban, I must criticize you on your arguments for the inactive banning of the Twilight series.

I agree 100%. They are not great books. I read them all, even forcing myself through the final book that you couldn’t even do. I watched the flicks, mostly out of a morbid curiosity to see what all the fuss was about. Some of the characters, such as Bella, were moderately offensive. She is boring and frankly I don’t know how either of the main boys think she is worth pursuing. Don’t even get me started on what “Team” everyone should be on, either, since it is pretty clear that Edward is an idiot and Jacob, although positively adorable in a lot of way, has a freaky temper. Neither one of them seem like a good catch.

Ok, so now that my review is clear, I will still say that I enjoyed the books. They are not books that should be on any kind of required reading list, but I also don’t think they deserve the entire backlash this woman is throwing at them.

Classic literature that has been decided long before I was even born isn’t a fair assessment of how people have evolved. I know that I have never really appreciated anything that Shakespeare has written. My opinion on this doesn’t make me an idiot nor does it make me a less appropriate person to critique other books. Everyone has their own taste, and to discourage your child from reading a book simply because you didn’t think the story is up to certain standards is wrong.

My mom is a very intelligent person. She was a member of Mensa when I was a kid and is witty and remarkable in so many ways. She has recommended several books to me, some of which I loved, some of which I hated. I have presented her with several books, some of which she loved, some of which she hated. One of those books I had her read was Harry Potter. One of the ones she didn’t finish because she didn’t enjoy it was in fact, Harry Potter.

Harry Potter is one of those books I have read over and over, cried over and fell deeply in love with. I am not alone in my love for these characters and people worldwide have been enchanted by Harry and his gang of misfits in their fight against evil. Well respected authors have cited it as an instant classic and I can see this becoming a series much like Lord of the Rings is (as a side note, I couldn’t even get through 5 pages of Lord of the Rings). So how is it that my mother, a woman who reads psychology books for pleasure reading, didn’t get sucked in to this wizarding wonderland?

I don’t know that there is an answer to this question that matters. What is important is that she was allowed to make that decision on her own. She opened the book, read several chapters, and then set it down as she didn’t feel it was worth her time. This doesn’t make her bad. It makes her human, which is what all children should be encouraged to do.

I have read so many books that were mind candy. They were frivolous and silly and ultimately they just made me happy because I didn’t have to think. I have read other books that were deep and insightful and truly touched my soul where I was left exhausted after I was done. All of these books have a place in our lives and this is why I truly believe Twilight, although silly in premise, is a book I would gladly hand over to my daughter if she wanted to read it.

People found The Great Gatsby romantic. I found it creepy. People always look at Charlotte’s Web as EB White’s best book when really, I think Trumpet of the Swan is more poignant. Books are supposed to inspire every individual differently, which allows even the “worst” stories to possibly inspire someone to write better, or read better, or even to be better. If Twilight is so awful as a romance novel and the Austin books so much better, shouldn’t both be read so there is a proper comparison?

My children have many of my qualities. They have many of my husband’s as well. What is great is that they also have some of their very own. I would rather encourage those to grow than to just have a little version of me running around out there. The world already has a me. Now I want it to have a them.

Have fun storming the castle

8-24-12


In 6 months Bobby will be 8. Holy fuck.

We showed the boys The Princess Bride last night. It was fun explaining to them what the movie was about using lines from Grandpa Peter Falk. Bobby was clearly the right age to appreciate a lot of it. I think if he watches it more and more, he will start to pick up on other humor as he gets older. Dax was interested, but a little more scared of parts. I am not worried since we will undoubtedly watch it several times over their lifespan.

I have to say, even though babies are cute and squishy, having kids who can think and produce real ideas and communicate is awesome!

We got to know Mr. Williams a bit more yesterday. When we went to pick up the boys, Dax was the classroom helper that day. What this means is that he stands outside the room at the end of the day and asks all of the parents as they arrive who it is that they are there for. Dax then goes in and lets that kid know that their parents are there. I was the first parent there, and Mr. Williams was going to just have Dax do this later. I insisted Dax hang out and do his job and I hung out with him. It was awesome! It meant we were there till every kid was picked up, which also meant we ended up having a few minutes to talk to Mr. Williams with no other kids or parents around. I really like him. He reminds me a lot of Miss Cahn, which is high praise coming from me.

On our way out, we visited with Mrs. Fasheh and Miss Lee and they asked how we liked Mr. Williams. They pointed out how structured he was, and I told them that when I was in elementary school that was when I thrived was with that kind of teacher. They both looked pleased, knowing that their Dax was in good hands based on this.

Bobby is making friends wherever he goes. He is a true Brenan. He just seems to make kids at ease when they are around him. He made a new friend in his class and ended up promising him a Lego keychain. This of course worried us only in the idea that we would hate for him to have been befriended only because of a promised toy. Ken ended up meeting the kid and the kid’s mom yesterday after class and everything was actually good! Ken is going to look for a keychain for the boy and it sounds like Bobby is doing fine in his choices.

I have to go down to LabCorp tomorrow morning for my blood work for the diabetes checkup. I am nervous about the results. I have not been nearly as diligent as I was in the beginning. Granted, I have maintained the weight loss, continued my workouts and have been healthier overall, but I still worry. Either way, I am going to ride my bike down to the place tomorrow morning. It is over by Torrance Memorial, so it will be a good ride. I don’t know if Ken and the boys will come with me. I would love it if they did, but I worry the boys will not be as thrilled.

We get our soccer uniforms today. This will be the decider in what color my hair will be.

Halloween already on the mind

8-23-12


I have decided to just laugh this morning despite it all.

Ok, that makes it sound grimmer than it really is. I am just annoyed this morning. Still dealing with the period after more than a week. I discovered only after I was at my desk at work that my favorite shoes had broken. The good news with that is I have my gym shoes here which actually seem to go better with my current outfit.

I really don't know what this has to do with anything, but I needed to put this somewhere

I also was greeted with an email in which our boss wants to have a brief meeting with the team this morning. I doubt it is bad, but I just find these to be tedious and annoying. Is it so bad that when I am at work, I mostly just want to be left alone?

Clearly this is not going to happen.

Homework last night was a bit more frustrating, but much of it may have come down to my lack of patience with their dinking around. I am hoping tonight is less of an issue. Then again, I do have to test the boys on some items since they have their class test tomorrow and I want them to do well.

My red hair is fading into pink again. Next week I am going to go get brown.

I taught Lucy a fun trick that I am sure will come back to bite me in the ass at some point. She figured out she could leap up from the desk up onto my boobs and shoulders where she could settle down. I started having her do this a few time, incorporating a call with it. Sure, it’s real cute when the tiny 5 pound kitten jumps up on you. I am guessing it is not going to be as endearing when she gets to full size and gives no warning for her leap for love.

I am starting to worry that my face is looking like Granddaddy. I feel like my cheeks are sagging in a way that makes my whole face look slightly shar pei like.

Even though I find my esteem is fighting a losing battle with the hormones, at least I can stand proud as I noticed yesterday this actual muscle tone in my calves. You can see lines and actual definition! It is pretty fucking cool.

I found this picture and it made me think that I need to introduce Bobby to Calvin and Hobbes. Bobby is in fact a little boy with a great imagination who happens to love his own stuffed tiger, Carson, to pieces. Plus, maybe I can get him to be Calvin for Halloween? Ok, not for Halloween since no one at his school will have any idea who it is, but I do need a picture.

I also have this dream of Dax dressing up like Ducky in Pretty in Pink for Halloween. In reality, I want him to dress like Ducky every day. I will show him some clips and see if these are styles he would like. Dax does have the charm to pull of the funky look and they both have a fondness for hats.

I recognize all of this is a pipe dream. I had my first clothing “argument” with Bobby last night. I was helping them by pulling out clothes for tomorrow. I picked out this pair of shorts, which are baggy cloth and plaid. Although the boys like them, both of them agree they are too much like pj’s to wear to school. I disagree, but really, I am not the one wearing them, and I want them to find their own groove. I would be pretty annoyed if someone was telling me what I could and could not wear, especially during such a critical time. I have taught them some of the fundamentals of what does and does not go together, so the rest is kind of up to them. I can guide, not force.

Speaking of Halloween, I really need to start figuring out what I am going to wear. Right now, just to save time and money, I may just wear my giraffe jammies and just make it as costume like as possible. I find this to be cheating, but then again, it would be cute. I still have time, so we will see if inspiration hits me soon.

Super soccer season

8-22-12


Is it Friday yet?

The soccer practice was fantastic last night. Our group of kids on the team are super sweet and full of energy. Only one of them was a little shy, and to be honest not the best player, but even so, he was a sweetheart, which makes the whole group a win! We went through some basic drills, just to see what we need to really work on. The hustle and excitement they all had during the scrimmage was intense. I was so pleased to see them all seem to have gobs of fun. Bobby exclaimed at one point how he was all happy that he was now friends with his whole team, which I thought was cute. None of the kids seemed stuck up or mean spirited in the least.

The parents are great, too! One of the kids got hit in the face with the ball super hard. Poor baby was in pain, yet his mom let me handle the whole thing, which I have to say was amazing. She had complete trust in me and she knew that everything was going to be fine. I loved this! I was able to not worry about doing anything wrong and I could comfort him while Ken finished out the practice. It was perfect.

I ran a lot. I did the dribbling jogging drill with them. I also fielded kicked balls and ran with sets of two as they dribbled and passed back and forth. A good deal of this was done jogging backwards. I also played the role of “Angry Driver” in our “LA Freeway” drill, and I can tell you, I felt that. I will be getting my extra exercise on Tuesdays for sure.

Next practice we will ride our bikes. It truly isn’t too much farther from Wilson, especially since a good chunk of it is an easy ride. I think it will be good conditioning for our whole family.

I was really impressed with how much better Bobby was doing last night. He went to the ball and really showed incredible improvement even since the Spring session. I was very proud of him! Dax was his usual self, kicking ass and taking names. I did have to pull him aside right before practice, though, since he got into a meltdown which I told him I would not tolerate this year. He was upset Ken had kicked the ball to him not in the exact way he wanted it. I told him I would not let him cry at practice like this and that if he does, he will sit out the rest of the practice. He managed to stay happy the whole practice and on our way home he even told me that he was good about not getting upset.

One of the best things about this group of kids, especially compared to Spring was that all of them actually paid attention to us! There wasn’t much in the way of goofing off or just plain not listening. I was pleased that this is gearing up to be a good season.

Ken ended up having to replace the battery in my car. I was all confused since I thought we had just gotten the battery. Apparently it was actually purchased back in 2008. LOL!

He rode his bike to Auto Zone to get the battery. Right after he installed it, he rode up to get the boys. I got home and asked him where my keys were. After a search of the house, he could only remember having them hooked on his pants when going to the school. I got on my bike and rode up the same path he took and then ended up stopping in the office to check. Sure enough, someone had turned in my keys, which after some thought on Ken’s part, he said they probably fell off somewhere near the cafeteria. Phew! I am just glad we found them.

Luna barked a couple times this morning around 3. She doesn’t tend to do that when in the house, which made it all very freaky. When I got up at 4, she was actually lying in the entry way, which is never where she is, so I wonder if someone either walked by the house or was across the street. Not sure. She barks a ton outside, but an inside bark is usually something to pay attention to.

Ken had taken Luna with him when he rode up on his bike to go check to see where this paramedic and fire truck went in our neighborhood last night. She wasn’t on a leash, yet still did an amazing job. They passed several dogs and yet she was very good. She did say hello to people, but other than that, she was just happy to follow Ken. I am so impressed with my pup!

Both of the boys have managed to go to class each day without incident. Last year there were still tears involved, yet this year, nothing. In fact, both seem pretty pleased once they are on campus. Plus, no discipline issues so far! Dax’s class has a 1 warning system, and if you manage to stay out of trouble all day, you get a go at the treasure chest each day. Dax has come home with a prize every day! Bobby’s class doesn’t seem to have much of a system like that, but he has not gotten into any trouble, has not been benched and the teacher seems to like him quite a bit. Of course, next Tuesday we should be able to find out more, but it is nice that the year is going so well.

I need to start saving up for the new iPhones. The rumor is they are coming out with the 5 in September. I don’t need it right when it comes out, but it is so time for a new phone. It is also almost time for me to get a new iTouch. Mine is starting to have a few minor issues. The battery doesn’t last nearly as long as it used to, and there have been some button problems. In all fairness, I have had it for a few years and have used it gobs. I think it still has a lot of life in it, though, so this is not something I think I need to worry about for a while.

The boys get a 4 day weekend for Labor Day. They have the 31st off, along with the 3rd. Lucky!! I at least get the three day weekend, which is happy making.

Stress Storm

8-21-12


It is never a good morning when the car doesn’t start.

I made it to work in the van. I am a little concerned that I will make it home, or at the very least to a gas station this afternoon, but we will make it work.

The problem with all of this is that it is just gasoline on this already full blown stress fire I seem to be dealing with. I felt like I was busy from the second I got up yesterday at 4 all the way to lying down at some point after the boys went to bed. It was everything from gobs of work related annoyance to when I got home I had AYSO issues and homework to deal with and making dinner and cleaning critter cages and housework and it was hot, and now I am rambling into how my head was about to explode yesterday. It doesn’t help either that I feel hormonal still. My period has been going for about a week in this kind of off and on configuration that is getting downright annoying. I feel off and almost panic attacky and it is getting old.

What is really funny is that in reality, I should be feeling all cocky right now. Many of the issues I have been dealing with have been someone coming to me, lacking in all the information they need to figure something out. My boss comes to me on a spreadsheet, convinced the data is wrong. Yet in reality, he was actually looking at the wrong spreadsheet. The registrar from AYSO comes to me assuming I never let him know about a refund request, yet I was able to quickly produce an email that he was a part of showing he knew about it. I am on top of things like some kind of super woman, yet instead of it making me feel powerful, I am just frustrated. I sometimes wish people would stop and think before opening their mouth.

There were some silver linings to my cloud cover. We headed out to our closest Goodwill yesterday with the hopes to find soccer cleats for Bobby, who had outgrown his shoes from last year. Ken was ready to give up after scanning the shoes and only seeming to see baseball shoes. I put on my super shopper eyes and found several pair of shoes, 2 pair of which fit him. I probably should have picked up both, but so far we have been pretty lucky while Goodwill shopping. Soccer cleats for kids this age also never go bad when they are turned in to the donation centers. It is that kids outgrow them after a season, and they barely get broken in, let alone destroyed. So for $5 instead of $30, it is a bargain!

While in the Goodwill, I also thumbed through the dresses, and Bobby spotted a wedding dress. Both boys thought I should have it and that I could wear it to work, which was pretty damn awesome. Then Bobby said that I should just wear it to my next wedding. I pointed out that I was happy with the current husband and was hoping another wedding wasn’t in my future. He said he was bummed he didn’t get to go to the first wedding and said we should have another one so he and Dax could go. He said we could invite all of our friends and family, except as he said, the dead ones. He decided we could do it at a wedding place or the beach. He is such a trip.

It also looks as though their homework so far is not nearly as frustrating as last year. Dax has to turn in his homework nightly, and truly, there is gobs less than what Bobby had last year. I was reading one of my parent magazines and it said 1st grade should have about 15 to 30 minutes of homework a night, closer to 15. 2nd grade was to have no more than 30 minutes. I think we are much closer to that time. Bobby has a packet again, but it is not as hectic overall. Of course, I might be jumping the gun on this assessment, but I feel good about this year.

Next Tuesday is their Back to School night, which is awesome that it is so close to the start of the year this time. The plan will be to all go and let the boys go play on the playground while we go to the classrooms. Should be doable. We will have to cancel practice next week, but I think we should be ok with that. Maybe we can reschedule.

Brianna’s tail is good. She is no longer in a bandage, but I keep cleaning her tail, making sure it looks good. She has feeling on it, but we worry that there are spots she doesn’t feel due to nerve damage. Of course, it doesn’t help that while we examine her she tends to just sit back and purr no matter what we do.

Ken is the hero in U8 this week. We were going to have to disband a team tomorrow night, but due to a registrar error, and Ken’s quick thinking, we have a coach and full team ready to go. One of the players originally on the team had moved regions, and had even already been refunded. This left an opening on the team for a player. Ken had the brilliant idea to call someone on the waiting list of players to tell them their kid could totally play, if the parent would step up and coach. Ken’s first call resulted in a coach and new player. WOO!

We will have a new neighbor in Margie’s old house next week. It is a couple without kids. I really hope they don’t mind them. We also found out that Maria opted out of buying Mike’s old house since they have decided to not allow the full year of wait time originally agreed on. There were people looking at the place last night, which means we will also have new people to the other side of us. Breaking in 2 new neighbors should be interesting. The dogs will have to figure out they don’t need to bark whenever someone “new” is in the yards and the boys will need to be respectful and not use their driveways until it is ok. I just hope we are not too loud.

I did my 30 minutes on the treadmill yesterday and it was freaking awesome. I was a mess after, especially since the gym is like a sauna these days. But it was nice to really get a good workout in. I figure I will need to do a lap or two tonight at practice. We need to get these kids in shape, which in turn means getting me in shape. I will get in my treadmill this morning and soccer tonight. Woo!

I suppose I should tackle this work thing.

Life is getting too busy!

8-20-12


Practice starts Tuesday!!

Our soccer meeting went well last night. It was a much different group of people compared to our Spring League. These are parents who seem to be involved and not just using soccer as a sitter for a couple hours a week. Granted, many of these parents couldn’t commit to things like being team parent or being a ref, but we will see what we can do. Life is just too damn busy these days. To get ref points so we can play in the Jamboree games, I may have to bite the bullet and do a ref class. Sigh. I didn’t want it to come to that, but the things I will do to make sure they can keep playing.

One of the players came at the end of the meeting. He was Dax’s age, and super sweet. He starts telling me about how last year he played this really tough team called the Blue Dinosaurs. I pointed out that Dax was on that team. Dax had his face buried in his iPod at the time and looked up excited. The boys then recognized one another, which was incredibly cute. The other boy told Dax what a great player he is. I thought that was very sweet.

What really sucks about this year is that there were not enough coaches for how many kids signed up for U8. We have a full team without a coach right now. On Wednesday evening, we have to go to a meeting with the team and explain to them that either one of them can step up and coach, or we would have to disband the team. This is why I have to be there since I would have to write refund checks to all of them. You hate to see these kids get turned away like that.

We have to go out and get soccer shoes for Bobby tonight since he has outgrown his other shoes. I suppose we should check Dax’s shoes, too. These kids and their growth spurts!

Dax’s party went well. Stephanie and Sabrina came and my parents did, too. Stephanie and I went in the pool with the kids, which was a lot of fun, especially since it was a million degrees out. I was proud of myself that I got over my fear of walking around with just the swimming suit on. Not saying I looked great, but I was just pleased that I could let myself have fun and not stress about my ass.

The pool has been well used in the last few days, which has been nice. I like how much fun they both have out there. I have to say, in general, the boys have not been at each other’s throats as much, so perhaps they have gotten to a happy middle ground right now.

Bobby told my mom that he really wanted his own house. He described a house to my mom in general, and she laughed but deep down, my mom hates to deny these boys anything. I am sure she was trying to figure out a way to get him some kind of house until my dad mentioned the dollhouse I probably still had somewhere. So she called me and asked if I had it accessible and explained what took place. Ken got down the dollhouse, a cool piece of woodworking Granddaddy made for me when I was a kid, and we presented it to the boys. They were so jazzed! What is really nice about this house is that it isn’t girly at all. It looks like just some basic house in the 70’s. It needs a little repair. The shingles are a little cracked and the linoleum in the kitchen needs replaced, but other than that, it is in excellent shape. The boys instantly busted out Playmobile and had them move in. They also had Lucy move in, but she wasn’t as excited about this as they were. My mom was super pleased.

I hate this heat. I just cannot sleep when it is hot. It is the only time I can’t just fall asleep. I know I got some sleep, but I was plagued with funky dreams. Last night included my going to a high school reunion. I was wearing my Christmas dance dress from Junior year with knee high, black and white stripped socks. It was an all class reunion, covering 50 years of students. I spent a lot of time trying to find pictures of people I knew on the boards around the auditorium. I then found myself trying to calculate what year Doug would have graduated. I was looking through his year and couldn’t find him. I didn’t know if he went by Smith or Bowlby. I looked under both. Nothing. I was very upset and I found myself drinking quite a bit and I couldn’t seem to go to the rest of the event, and I headed back to the hotel room that Ken and I had which for some reason seemed to be attached to the school now. It was all kinds of strange. I woke up this morning with the slap to the head of, wait, Doug went to Redondo Union, not Costa. This would be why he wouldn’t be listed. Of course, like this makes ANY difference when it comes to dreaming.

Brianna’s tail looked good when we changed the bandage. It was nice and pink and clean with no discharge. Sadly, Brianna decided to chew off the next wrap we used. It didn’t look bad, but you can tell she chewed on it a bit. It still was discharge free, but I noted a bit of blood around it from her meddling. More Neosporin and a new bandage, and she has kept it on, so we will check it again tonight to see how she is doing. She has feeling in her tail still. She was actually getting a bit grumpy when we were checking it last, so this is a good thing. She is clearly bruised there, too. Poor kitten!

On Friday I got to take cupcakes to Dax’s class for his birthday. What turned out even better than expected was getting to help out and observe in the class for about 45 minutes. Mr. Williams runs a tight ship. He doesn’t let them just raise their hand when they need something. They each have about 6 cards with “logos” on them. One is a pencil, for when their pencil needs sharpened, one is a bathroom card, one is for water, and there are a couple others they need to hold up when they need help. He also is very organized in how they all do things for homework and classwork. I really liked the structure.

I ended up helping a student who had only came into the class that day. He seemed behind in many ways. He didn’t know how to write his name. I wasn’t sure if it was a language issue or what, but he was a sweet kid. I wonder what will happen with him.

Many of the kids in there know me, and many of them could hardly contain themselves because all of them wanted to tell me something. Whether it be about their backpack or their summer break, they had a hard time staying seated. I actually had to snip at Tristan a few times. I didn’t mind chatting with the kids, but they were still in the midst of work. It was kind of hard to have to tell some of them to behave since they all dubbed me the cool mom. Dammit! I love that, but at the same time I want them to be good! LOL! The good news is despite my instructions to them, they still seemed happy towards me.

Homework will probably start to suck now, though. It is the first real week of instruction and Bobby will probably have his own packet of papers to accomplish tonight. I am hoping there isn’t much fight. I still need to have Dax write his two other thank you cards from his birthday, so it will suck if his homework frustrates him too much to make these go on the back burner.

Today I am going to walk 30 minutes on the treadmill. I am not going to allow myself to stop until I do it. Work will live without me for that long.

Dax is almost 6

8-17-12


Tomorrow my youngest is 6!!!!

Now I just have to make it through today without losing my mind. I feel like I still have tons to do, yet really I probably don’t. It all comes down to making sure I get everything in order for tomorrow, and wondering if I want to attempt the stress of being gone all morning.

The highlight of my day will undoubtedly be cupcake delivery time. I am going to the school at 1:30 to bring the sugar snacks to Dax’s class. We went and got them yesterday. The cashier did manage to flip one of the smaller containers of them, but I didn’t make a big deal. Sadly, I left them on the counter at home for too long before fixing them and two of them in the melting process stuck a little more than I would have wanted. No worries since I know I got more than enough, so I should be fine.

I loved going to the school yesterday. I chatted with various teachers that know me now and even got a warm hug from a student that was in Bobby’s class last year. I loved it. I felt so at peace there. It’s funny, I almost am starting to regret not pursuing one of my ideas for a career choice, which was a teacher. Mind you, I would be a horrid teacher. That being said, it would be wonderful to hang out with all these happy kids all day. I wish I was able to volunteer more at the school. I don’t want to work with the grownups. I want to work with the kids.

The boys and I had a pleasant afternoon. No fighting on homework, even though it was only Dax with work. Bobby had already finished his newsletter project and turned it in (the first kid in the class, mind you!) so he instead helped me with some chores while Dax worked hard on his homework. Then the boys went out and played. It was nice to have them outside and enjoying the sunshine. After dinner, they even went in the pool, which was awesome. It allowed me to work on some AYSO checks.

Brianna seems to be functioning quite well with her peg tail. We were going to check the wound last night but we wanted to give it one more day wrapped so we didn’t mess with her too much, especially since she seems to be doing so well. We are going to check the injury tonight. I am nervous. I really hope this incident doesn’t result in some kind of amputation. Not that I think she will mind, but it would just make me sad that it all happened.

I need to win the lottery or start setting aside money or something. I need a bigger house. I need a house with 4 bedrooms. I am fine with the boys sharing a room still. I like them having a playroom/homework room. But I want a room that I can have all the walls be bookshelves. I keep finding stacks of books in every nook and cranny of my house or desk at work or even in my car. I need to put them somewhere.

I saw this old lady at the school yesterday and she was actually sporting lavender hair. It was freaking awesome. She had to be in her late 60’s, and I don’t know if she did this on purpose or what. It was clear she was mostly grey under it all, but the lavender tones on top of it were fab. I may need to try this hue when I go all gray.

I just emailed a number of places that will make stuffed animals out of your child’s drawings. I have the awesome skeleton that Dax drew me so I am hoping to make it into a doll. If it turns out well, I may also have them each draw some more pictures and maybe have some made for the Grandmothers. It would be unique and awesome.

Crud. It also just occurred to me that when we go out cake shopping this afternoon I need to go get Dax a birthday present. LOL! Not that it is a big deal. In fact, I may just take him to Target and let him pick something out. Not sure yet. I also wanted to take him by Toys R Us for his free balloon and crown. We might go do that on Sunday, though.

Why is life so dang busy?!?!?

Lycos vs. Brianna

8-16-12


Dog attack!

Last night as I helped the boys take a shower, and Ken was in the playroom treating it with boric acid, there was an incident. We came out to find little drops of blood everywhere. It was on the floor, my desk, almost as if someone sneezed while dealing with a bloody nose. We instantly checked all the critters. We came to Brianna and found blood on her tail. There was a cut that clearly had bled quite a bit. She seemed pretty indifferent to the injury, but did get a little annoyed at us messing with it.

It looked minor at first glance, but I wasn’t convinced. I felt around and I could feel the hole that accompanied the blood and was actually a little faint when I noted how extreme it was. We shaved her tail around the area and our worst suspicions were coming true; she had sustained a bite, probably from one of the dogs.

Luna was off the hook pretty instantly since she was in with Ken the whole time. This left the blame to fall on Lycos. Even though she is lacking in some of her teeth, she has the temperament that make it all too possible for it to be very believable. Scenarios come to our heads which all make sense. Brianna could very easily have done everything from attacking her tail to startling Lycos to what now is occurring to me is that she tried to eat some of Lycos’s kibble. I know dogs don’t really feel bad when they fuck up, but I can tell you, she seemed to know something had gone down and that we were not thrilled with her.

After cleaning up the wound, you could tell it was pretty significant. There was some concern that her tail was so badly bit that the bone was separated. We still are unsure, but she seems to still have some feeling. Ken got a finger splint (I can tell you now, no one can ever say our house lacks in medical supplies.) and put that on her tail. He then wrapped it with soft bandages and then taped it. I held her during this, the whole while she purred and was incredibly content. I was impressed. She is a real trooper, cementing the fact that we lucked out big time with the temperament of these new members of the Brenan house.

We were concerned she would chew at it. She at first seemed to find it annoying. Then the kitten in her thought it was a toy as she ran in circles, trying to get her tail. It didn’t take more than a few minutes and she just ignored it. Yay! She slept in our bed last night at Ken’s feet with her sister. It was good to see her not upset.
For now, we will keep an eye on it. We will probably change the bandage tonight and add more Neosporin. Since it is a bite, there is gobs of germs that would have gotten in there, so I am hoping it doesn’t get infected. We will take her to the doc if it looks like she needs more treatment, which I am guessing would just be a dose of antibiotics. I may make the appointment anyway since we need to get their vaccinations started.

This does mean that Lycos is not to be allowed to eat unless we are watching her closely. Normally we are in the room with her when she does eat, so this was a rare instance in which we happened to be out of the room. Still, I shudder to think how bad this could have been. She could have bit her head, or stomach, causing a way worse injury. What happens if she had bit the boys? It is all bad thoughts that fill my head now. She is old and deserves some respect, but sadly she will also need to be watched more closely. I have seen her snip at Luna more viciously recently, and even with me to some degree if she did her spaced out routine. My dad said that when they came over one of the days, Lycos barked for a full ten minutes, which is crazy odd for her since Lycos loves my dad. It was as if she didn’t recognize even the boys, which bothers me a great deal.

Critters getting old sucks.

At least the rest of the afternoon and evening were pleasant enough. Dax didn’t fight me nearly as much with his homework. I also was much calmer (which still isn’t saying much. I need to still bring it down about 30 notches), which may have helped. The worst fight was over one picture. It was a worksheet in which you had to write down the beginning sound of the picture and then you write the word. The picture was of a sail. The problem was that it didn’t have the boat typically associated with that kind of sail. Dax was convinced that it was a match, which had been on a sheet the day before. I tried to explain it, and he wasn’t having it. I even showed him the worksheet with the match compared, but he didn’t care. So I had him write what he thought it was, and I put a note on the paper saying that Dax was convinced it was a match, so hopefully it doesn’t cause too many problems.

Today I need to talk to his teacher anyway to get a count of how many students are in the classroom. I need to go get cupcakes this afternoon for tomorrow. Plus, I want to make sure I am not disrupting the class. I don’t think it will be an issue, but it never hurts to check.

I also need to work on the house. With company coming over for Dax’s party, it needs to be company ready. Sadly, Ken is gone all day today and tomorrow, so he will not be able to help. Plus, Saturday morning, there is coach’s training from 8 to noon. Apparently Ken thought the boys and I were coming to that. The boys would be helping in the training, and I would actually be getting certified. But really, I need to set up for the party. So if I can get everything done to my liking today and tomorrow, I can go to that since people are not showing up to the house until 1:30. I need to remember, too, that most of the party will be taking place out back and with good friends who I am pretty sure would not judge me for any kind of potential mess I might have at the house. They all have kids and jobs and they understand.

Thankfully the house is still mostly intact from my vigorous cleaning from a week ago. It is just some minor touch ups and getting the back yard picked up a smidge. The biggest thing falls on Ken in the form of cleaning the pool. LOL!